Sunday, 30 December 2012

Hey guys, how was everyone's Christmas?? I had a really good time, though left in my somewhat exhausted state it does make me thankful it only happens once a year...but now it is over I can show you some of the things I made:

This is the result of the angel from the bare bones I shared in this post, the wings were fun and it's so easy to get this textured feathery effect below, you just tear and stick air dry clay on top of itself in layers:

I made these cool owls below from this pattern I found on the internet, I know craft owls are soooo overdone now but I couldn't help myself, they're just too super cute aren't they?

I also made some large ornament things, buy using cheaper single ornaments brought from regular stores, layering them up then adding bits & bobs like beads to personalise them:

This ornament I made using homemade supplies I'm going to show you how to make in my next tutorial - *spoiler warning*(oh well bit late now lol)

Glitzy, glitzy, glitzy new tutorial!!

I also added some to the top left of the below gift tag & painted plant pots and things - I don't like giving beautiful orchards in boring containers, it's gotta be Jennibellied first :D

The only art journaling I managed all holiday is this page below, which was made like the page in my recent video, in teeny tiny time slots between seeing people, wrapping things, seeing people, wrapping things etc

I also managed to quickly do this smashbook page today:

One thing's for certain, these hols have truly made me appreciate how creatively proficient I have become this year (mainly through realising how restless I am on the days when I cannot find a few minutes to myself to just 'be'... I guess to just be creatively open & free). I've never much enjoyed the whole New Years buzz or build up, but this year I'm really looking forward to 2013 and plan on making it a very creatively happy, positive, productive, shiny, enjoyable year =D

Sunday, 23 December 2012

So I have a new love! Recently I brought myself some acrylic inks, wanting to mainly use them for some homemade sprays...and considering I have used *everything* under the sun for my sprays & get asked a lot about how I make mine, I thought I'd share this new love because they are by far and away the best thing I've come across (so far) for making my own sprays.

They are probably about 70% water to 30% colour, though I don't measure accurately, just eyeball the colour density - which is the strength of acrylic but in the easy consistency of ink (meaning it's less likely to clog your sprays than acrylic, but far more opaque than ink). I have been using the sprays, they were what I used in the journal page of the last post & this new one below

this page was created with the same make-shift butterfly stencil from the last post too

But I've also found I really like using them as drawing inks, like in the page above, for just sketching really simply-lined girls faces too:

Friday, 21 December 2012

Hey guys I just finished a page which turned out rather scrappyI think ~ I definitely hit the gesso bottle too, probably a little harder than usual but hey it's Christmas, time for indulgence an' all that lol

The colours are nothing like those I may usually go for, but that's because of how the page started - with this scrap piece vintage text paper, which I remember painting green about 3 years ago, punching pieces out of it about one year ago and finally using it completely up, as is, today.

So strange how something so insignificant as a random piece of scrap paper can produce a snowball effect of creativity. The embellishments on the page are all scrap too ~ silver diamond shape leftovers from punching mirror card for wedding invitations (only another 3.4 million of those still to use up...), left over wooden hearts from Christmas ornaments I was using to make a garland with:

And the butterflies that I used as stencils are from this cheapo garland I brought, which if you follow me on facebook you'll know I ended up loving so much it's now hanging in the studio ~ but hey as I say we're allowed to indulgence ourselves & stuffing the place with tacky decorations is all part of it :)

So that's it, just a quick share of my scrappy page & if I don't 'see' you beforehand...

Wednesday, 19 December 2012

I just have a quick little art journal page to show you, it took 15 minutes & I recorded the process in real-time but divided the time into three 5 minute sections

...well technically I went a little over on a couple of sections, so it may be turned into a 16 minute page lol but it's difficult just to drop it while the media is in your hand and idea in your head haha =) What I do in the video is an easy way either to warm up for a bigger journal page, or to do it as I do and journal in lil bursts throughout the day/days when time is tight. I sometimes also do this when I don't feel very 'committed' ~ you know what I'm talking about? Those days when you just can't be bothered to do ANYTHING creative, and you just feel like you'd mess something up if you did? Well I do this on those days ~ not a lot, just bits and pieces like in this vid and nothing that I can do 'wrong'. So if you wanna hang out with me while I create this page please check out the video below and I'll see you soon xoxo

Tuesday, 18 December 2012

Hi guys, we've a lovely TAT interview this week. I felt very happy after first reading this interview & in hindsight I realised it's because of the positive message within Carin's art ~ in fact you could call it positively arty (haha gettit?!). This will be my last TAT interview before the new year, as next Tuesday is Christmas Day, so I won't be posting one then as we've all have enough on our plates already right?! (haha 'enough on our plates' I'm on fire! Must be national rubbish-jennibellie joke-day lol). Please enjoy this final TAT of 2012, the next one will be on the 1st =)

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.

I'm Carin, a mixed media artist, memory-keeper, and storyteller in the UK. I do mostly art journaling, pencil drawing, and canvas work.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?

My biggest challenge right now is time. My toddler is still at home with me all day, but napping less and less, so long focused arting sessions are out. I try to involve my boy as much as possible though, just like I did with my daughter when she was at home, so I often set him up with paper and pencils or watercolours next to me at the breakfast bar so we can make art together. I also often get up an hour or two before the rest of my family so I can work.

Have you ever found anything that originally daunted you as an artist that you can now overcame easily?

When I first got into mixed media, I was terrified of layering. And I mean terrified. I really struggled with it. With pencil drawing, it's easy...you just start off lightly, then add add layer after layer of slightly darker shading until you get the desired effect. Mixed media was so different. I agonized over every single layer and was constantly second guessing myself. It took me quite a few months, and a number of long YouTube sessions studying other artists, to start trusting the process. Now I just slap things on and experiment. If I don't like it, I find a way to cover it up. It just adds to the layers. And if I get too precious about a layer before I feel I have finished the piece, I rough it up a bit on purpose so I can move on.

What messages do you try to portray in your work and do you feel you achieve it?

Much of my art is about celebrating life in all its messy glory, and appreciating what you've got (however little that may seem). I see my art as a kind of visual gratitude journal. I'm not against venting in my art journal, but I'm one of those people who naturally look for the lessons and meaning in everything I do and experience, so by the time I've put my last mark on a page it usually has a pretty positive message. My pencil drawings (which I've only just starting doing again after several years) hone in on celebrating small, often neglected moments in my life. Canvases tend to be more general.

Thank you Carin, I love, love, LOVE the 'honing in on celebrating small neglected moments in life' ~ so beautiful! And it's just common sense that if you focus on all the good times & good things you do have in your life, you will lead a much happier one than you would focusing on what you don't have. Unfortunately I think that gets forgotten or ignoredtoo often in this great modern world of abundance & commercialism, but it is the seemingly small stuff that actually holds some of our biggest blessings. Wonderful work Carin, thanks ever-so for sharing =)

Want to be featured in TAT in the new year? Email me or click the link to find all the details here =)

Sunday, 16 December 2012

Hey guys, so after my last post where I discussed my current art journaling patternI gathered from the comments you guys liked this page below, so I decided to share a little more about the materials and process of the page.

This page was one of those 'meh' pages. I wasn't feeling it & just sloshed a bit of paint here, a bit of paint there, never really liking the page or enjoying the process. I didn't like this page right until the very end when, as I wrote the last words, I suddenly loved it! Despite the fact that I didn't like it though I still went with it ~ that's what the journaling on the page is about, just forgetting what is going on in my head & trusting my creative instinct, because as always, she was right.

So that's pretty much the process, as for the materials, well as you know I love free supplies so I got these big mandala-looking circles & cute little flowers from the hardware store as I was picking up some bits. They came from these two wallpapers

...well technically they're borders

I love the hardware store for free supplies, many journalers hit the paint chips but I'm all about the wallpapers baby! Other materials include a couple of other scraps of collage, paint and some journaling/doodling with a black pen & white out corrector, but it's really the wallpapers that give it the 'pop'!

Thursday, 13 December 2012

first I spend a few days wanting to do nothing creative but art journaling ~ so I do it solidly for that time, then out of nowhere I suddenly want to do nothing creative but projects besides art journaling, so off I go with those. Here's a few pages from the last few days' journaling rampage.

I used to do a little bit of journaling every time I had a creative moment, as a sort of warm-up to get the juices flowing, then I'd go off into other projects if I wanted to. At the moment though I'm all about one or the other...but I'm happy with that, just because I've noticed this pattern doesn't mean I'm going to try to change or manipulate it into being more consistent.

...I think it's all part of the fun of being a creative; you don't always know where it comes from or why, but why should you?

I've long been a believer in following my creative instinct, I do as she pleases, and in a few months I'll bet I'll be spotting another explainable pattern =)

How about you??

Have you noticed you have any creative/journaling patterns?

Share with me in the comments, I'd love to hear how other people creatively work =)

Tuesday, 11 December 2012

Hi guys, so after last weeks interview post where I stated I would be stopping TAT soon as the participation was beginning to dry up guess what?!?? We have lots of participation again!! Whoop! lol so I've lots of emails to be getting on with & TAT will be continuing for the foreseeable future ~ as I promised when I started I will do it for as long as people want it - you just gotta show me sometimes yo!!! lol ok so this week is someone I'd be very artistically jealous of if I were 18 again & we were in class together, please enjoy the work of wonderful Gretchen:

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.

My name is Gretchen. I’m a self taught 18 year old who likes to dabble in pretty much any kind of medium at least once. I guess you could say I’m sort of a mixed media, multimedia type of artists in the sense that I like to try a bit of everything. Art has always been a part of my life from the day I was born. Each of my family members have artistic desire and ability, and have kept me encouraged from the day I started creating. My very first art form I fell in love with was collage, at the age of four, when my oldest sister introduced it to me. That led to my passion for paper, which has never worn off since then. ^.^ I was also given a sketch book at the age of 13 from my brother; those were the beginning days of my journal keeping craze, and I’ve continued doing it to this very day.

Indeed, I love art, and will never stop doing it.

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?

I face several big challenges. It’s hard for me to be inspired or driven because of where I live for one. The place I live lacks beauty; being that it’s an industrial, urban city with all the bad qualities of a city, and none of the good qualities to make up for it. I also find it quite devastating to not be able to interact with other artists like me, being that I enjoy sharing. It makes me sad that there are absolutely no art groups I can attend to around here, and there are no galleries or museums that have art which interest me. In order to overcome these challenges, I’ve turned to the internet in hopes of finding others like me, and have a place to share, at anytime. Though I still struggle, I feel that my art is what matters, and it makes me happy to create and share, so I continue doing it because I enjoy what I do.

What daunts you most as an artist?

The thing that daunts me most is lack of space and privacy. My art studio (the corner of my living room) is out in the open and increasing in messiness by the day. I have so many ideas and so much I want to make, but it seems like every time I sit down I feel watched, or I feel like someone is going to come in and turn on the tv. So to avoid this I work as quickly as possible, and commonly stow away to my room where I’ll work on parts of a project on by bed, and work on larger parts of a project late at night in the living room. I also face an issue with lack of energy on some days… where I really want to make something, but my apathetic side kicks in and I sit there like a slug.

What is your heart’s greatest desire for your life as an artist?

My greatest desire is to start a coffee shop somewhere that makes me happy, and I actually enjoy living in. I want to combine me and my families passions into one building, where each section has a different art form. One spot for papers and journals, another spot for jewelry and costume, and so on. I feel that coffee and art go together, and what better place to have hand crafted journals on display for people who might want a book to sketch and write in while they drink their coffee and discuss their ideas with others. I feel that to live above our dream coffee shop would be the best thing, so I can go to my studios at anytime, and work till I’m too tired, get up in the morning and make coffee, maybe even have art classes on the weekends.

Yay thank you Gretchen, I really enjoyed taking a trip into your arty life especially when...I have a secret, I have never shared this on here before but...

I WANT TO OPEN AN ARTIST COFFEE SHOP!!

eeek =) I've ALWAYS loved my coffee shops and a great desire for me too is to open an artist & writers coffee shop (in my head it's in some fabulous area of London), I'd have sections for different purposes with supplies and inspiration all around, again like yours with art classes I can both take and teach. Hmmm **Dreamy Glare** may be one day we can open one together? lol I also have the same issue as you do with location, if you want to hear more about this Gretchen and how I deal with it please check out this post, I mention it in the same section as this one here.

I hope everyone enjoyed that =) if you want to be a featured artist and keep this series going email me, you can find all the details here =)

Friday, 7 December 2012

I think this post just need to start with that because I am sooooo happy that this tut is done & ready to be turned into Beautiful Baubles that'll hang proudly on (hopefully) many a Christmas tree =)

If you know me you know I get really excited when I know I've made something that's not only beautiful, but also functional and lastly something that is eco-friendly as well ~ well these Baubles encompass all those things so I couldn't be more delighted with them.

What tops it off even further is I know me creating these and showing how they're made will prompt more good use for things that are bad for our environment ~ so if you like them please consider making these beauties too before you throw out any plastic! Just consider the happy faces that could be seen on Christmas day if you give someone special one of these beautiful baubles as a gift, with all your handmade love visible within it.

By the way Mama HAPPY CHRISTMAS, seeing these beauties are yours ;)

My mum (otherwise known as Mama or Mumsie), been determined to get her pic
on this blog at some point for whatever reason mwaaah haaa haaa ;)

Tuesday, 4 December 2012

Hi guys, it's nearly 12am here and I've just walked in expecting to go straight to bed without doing a TAT today because I hadn't any interviews for you when Chelsea emailed me, complete with her interview, on my way home. So thank you Chelsea for keeping the series going as I've always said that once the participation for these interviews drops then so will the feature. It is a shame as hearing other peoples stories is SO inspiring, but it is because I get a LOT of interest but only a percentage of the interest transcends into interviews, which happens in anything and is only natural. However when I get a long enough period where interviews are not completed I'm not going to be running round badgering people, or even slightly bothering them, for interviews; so this is fair warning to anyone that wants to be featured & also forewarning for those that enjoy reading these interviews that they might not be around much longer (in which situation though there is something happily that you can do - get the word out to your arty friends & it may help keep them running =) ). So now the 'housekeeping' side of the interviews is done let's get on being inspired while we do still have an artist with a story to meet, take it away Chelsea:

Tell us a little bit about yourself & what kind of artist you are.

My Name is Chelsea St.Pierrre! I live happily with my husband ( whom I met on a bus in London 8 years ago!) and 2 beautiful daughters Armelle 7 and Erin 3. I was born and lived most of my formative young life on the Caribbean Twin island of Trinidad & Tobago. I came to London nearly 15 years ago and have lived here since. I am happy that Art discovered me later in life, it caught me when I most needed to be kind to myself...

I am considered a Visual Artist. I paint mainly with acrylic and often in the form of Mixed Media and 3D. I live happily under a creative umbrella and dance with art journaling, water colour, zendoodle, making altered jewelry, handmade cards, you name it.....I will try my creative hand at anything under this umbrella

What is the biggest challenge you personally face as an artist and how do you overcome it?

Space and Time! I work around the needs of my family and this is a 24/7 job. I paint on our dinning table and craft in our spare room, which I now call my dry studio. However it can at times be a challenge as family meal times becomes strained, as I have to always unpack all my stuff, lay the table, eat, clear the table then put all my paint gear back on again. I am grateful to have that spare room, especially in London where space and spare are so rare! So I often invest time in daydreaming about my perfectly equipped Art Studio. I often paint or create at very odd hours - 4am or past midnight till wee hours in the morning, those hours are completely glorious, as it is totally quiet and I can really zone in. I overcome this by living in a state of GRATITUDE! I am so grateful to be doing what I love and it beings me joy beyond any imagination, it completely overrides the frustration I feel at times. Also, I am very clever and utilize space very creatively. ha ha!

What do I love most about art?

Well Jenny, this is my favorite question but one which I cannot give one answer:

Art is my second family. It is the essence of me in ways that I cannot explain.

I love it because I can always grow, there is always something to learn, a new technique or medium to try. The more I know and learn is the more I realise how much I do not know [ which is brilliant].

It has the ability to catalog the stages of my journey as an artist, wife, woman, friend and mother as these are the areas that inspire me the most as artist [I am an emotional painter, it all comes from inside]

Also I love being part of the Art community, it is a community where we share, support, encourage, grow, inspire, teach and befriend each other. Is there any other such community out there like ours?

What is your greatest personal achievement because of Art?

Beyond any doubt - finding purpose again. As I said Art discovered Me late in life. I worked as a mental health nurse and used art to de-stress on my days off. I was constantly surrounded by so much depression, anger, angst, suicide and self harming that I had to find a way to fill my life with colour, hope, beauty, positivity and preserve myself emotionally. Art took away all the dark and grey from my work life and replaced it with joy and vibrance. I loved my job as a nurse and chose it as a life long career, so when I had my first and second child I sustained an injury so bad it meant I had to eventually say goodbye to my life as nurse. It left me lost and angry..... all the hard years of study, then working in a career I was passionate about and making a difference. While I was happy to be home with my daughters in their young and baby stage, I had no idea what I was able to do. Then art saved me.... kindly note - I do not mean this in a fleeting sense...I mean ART SAVED ME!!! It pulled me out of a dark place and gave me purpose again! It breathe fresh life into me and now at 38 years old I can call myself an Artist!

Again thank you so much Chelsea, I really enjoyed the answers you gave to all the questions but the last one is particularly heart-warming, good for you girl! I think all other artists understand this feeling on some level because most of us came to art out of a NEED. I have talked about this before but this is why I agree with your statement about our community, because I have felt more myself sometimes with people I have never met than with some people I spend a lot of my time with physically. I feel 'got', which is why I contribute as much to the community as I can because our sharing & supportiveness are probably it's greatest features =)

So once again if you want to be a featured artist and keep this series going email me, you can find all the details here =)

PS I just want to say sorry to those people that left me a comment on my last blogpost but who's comment's are not actually visible, I accidentally deleted, rather than published some (I keep my filter on so I don't miss anyone's comments & can get rid of spam etc). Rest assured though I did read them & thank you for taking the time to write them, I'll just make sure that'll be my last 3am blog spot-check lol ;)

Sunday, 2 December 2012

Hello December!! =D I'm both excited and appalled that you're here so early! I've so much to do and not much time to do it in and then it's 2013 and boy! do I have a lot planned for that year. I've already picked my word for the year and everything lol because I intend to look back on 2013 the way I will 2012; with happiness and pride at what I've achieved (for the purpose of this blog all the 'artily' stuff I've accomplished, but outside of it generally in life as well).

A big part of my arty journey in 2012, particularly the latter half is my current art journal. This journal I absolutely adore, and have even given it the title of my most favourite EVER art journal! Of course it started off with very humble beginnings, like all my projects, as this cereal box:

It is still to be properly decorated exterior, but I'm waiting until nearer the end of this journal to decide what identity feels right for it's covers. Sometimes I decorate the exterior first, and that develops what the identity of the interior will be, but this time I'm waiting until it feels right to jazz up the face it will forever after present to the world =)

Ever since I first started showing this journal I have been asked how I made it, well now after what I've been doing this weekend, HOORAH I can show you!!! I've made a video with some footage I shot when I first made this journal (intending to use it for another project) so now I can just point peeps to this video to see for themselves. However, this video will not make much sense unless you have seen the original cereal box journal tutorial I did ages ago (which I will embed under the newer video) because this journal is just an adaptation of that so please ensure you watch that one as well if you need to (especially before asking questions it will probably answer for you, as my intention with this video was to help me decrease, rather than increase my already heavy inbox of qus lol). Hope you enjoy =D

Here is the original Cereal Box -to- Art Journal Tutorial:

...(if you give it a go) Happy Journal Making =) much love Jennibellie